Methods

Retrospective study of bloodpool SPECT and planar control images. Four raters used the validated Bruderholz scheme and a 5-point scale to grade uptake. Inter-rater agreement and overall confidence scores were calculated. Variable cluster analysis was performed to identify patterns of uptake, and associations between patterns and prosthesis outcome and biomechanical functioning were examined.

Conclusions

Bloodpool SPECT outperforms planar assessment of painful TKAs and the identification of distinct uptake patterns make it a potentially clinically relevant biomarker of prosthesis survival and biomechanical functioning.

Keywords

Notes

Funding

This study was funded by the Department of Nuclear Medicine of the Antwerp University Hospital.

Compliance with ethical standards

Ethical approval

All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study formal consent is not required.